Rail spike puller



Dec. 4, 1962 A. E. LEESON 3,066,913

RAIL SPIKE FULLER Filed Nov. 23, 1959 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I

F 85 a1- 72 808 i T FIG. 5

INVENT OR.

ALB RT E. LESSON BY apiiz Ww Dec. 4, 1962 A. E. LEESON 3,066,913

RAIL SPIKE FULLER Filed Nov. 25, 1959 e Shets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4

INVENTOR. AL BERT E. LEESON Dec. 4, 1962 A. E. LEESON 3,066,913

RAIL SPIKE FULLER Filed Nov. 23, 1959 6 SheetsSheet 3 INVENTOR.

ALBET E. LEEsoN 11 BYMw Dec. 4, 1962 A. E. LEESON 3,066,913

RAIL SPIKE FULLER Filed Nov. 23, 1959 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 ALBERT E. LEESONATTX Dec. 4, 1962 A. E. LEESON RAIL SPIKE FULLER 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 FiledNov. 23, 1959 INVENTOR.

ALBERT E. Lasso/v United States Patent Olifice i atenfred Dee. l, 1991623,666,913 RAIL SPIKE FULLER Albert E. Lesson, NGXOHI, Mont. Filed Nov.23, 1959, Ser. No. 854,854 Claims. (Cl. 254-125) This invention relatesto a novel mobile rail spike puller.

The disclosed machine consists of a rail traveling carriage equippedwith spike engaging shoes which are jerked upwardly by air pressureresponsive to either manual or automatic control. It utilizes theexisting rails as guides and slides the shoes along the base of thetrack under the head of the spike. Therefore the shoes are automaticallypositioned as the carriage travels along the track.

It is an object of this invention to provide an automatic control for aspike puller activated in response to pressure caused by engagement ofthe puller and spike.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a spike puller whichhas a sudden jarring motion to remove the spikes from the ties.

These and further objects will become evident from the followingdisclosure and the accompanying drawings which illustrate one specificform of my invention. It is to be emphasized that this specificarrangement is not exhaustive of the possible applications of thisinvention and is not meant to limit the scope of his invention except asdefined in the claims.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a sectional view through a rail showing the rail and tieplate with one spike previously removed for clarity and with the shanksof the spike pulling shoes broken away;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 in FIGURE 1 with therail and tie broken away;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3+3 of FIGURE 1 with therail and tie broken away;

FIGURE 4 is a front-view of the carriage assembly with portions removedor broken away for clarity and with the rails shown in section;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged partial sectional view taken along line 5-5 inFIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a top plan view of the complete assembly with the railsbroken away;

FIGURE 7 is a side view of the assembly substantially corresponding toFIGURE 6 with the spike pulling assembly in retracted position;

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 3 8 in FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 9 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 99 in FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 10 is a schematic wiring diagram and pneumatic control circuitfor the spike puller; and

FIGURE 11 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 11-41 inFIGURE 6 showing one guide assembly.

Referring now to the drawings, and to FIGURES 6 and 7 in particular, thespike puller is shown on a mobile mounting consisting of a flat bed 18mounted upon front and rear railway wheels 11 and 12 respectively. Sincethe structure of such assemblies is quite common, no further specificdetails are deemed necessary. Power is supplied by an engine 13 mountedon bed It), which might be an internal combustion engine, diesel engineor any other type desired. Engine 13 drives a double pulley 14 uponwhich are mounted two belts l5 and 16. Belt 1'5 in turn drives a pulley17 connected to the input shaft 18 of a step-down transmission 19 ofcommon construction. The output shaft 20 of transmission 19 is connectedto a control transmission 21 which has a handle 22 and is manuallyoperable to be set in any of four alternate positions two speedsforward, neutral or reverse. Connecting transmission 21 and the finalpulley 23 is a shaft 24. Pulley 23 drives a wide be.t 25 which extendsthrough bed 10 to a similar pulley 26 mounted on the axle for the frontdriving wheels ill. An idler pulley 27 is mounted above belt 25 and ispivotally supported upon bed 10 by depending struts 2d. The pulley 27maintains a constant tension in belt 25 due: to its weight.

Belt 16 drives a pulley 29 which is fixed to the input shaft 3% of anair compressor 31 mounted upon bed It The outlet air connectioncomprises a pipe 32 which feeds to a reservoir 33 that stands verticallyat the front of bed 10 and a connecting hollow air-tight front beam 33a.The reservoir 33 has mounted at its top a control panel 34 which isequipped with a pressure gauge 35 and four control buttons 36-39 whosefunctions will be fully explained later. Reservoir 33 is equipped with apressure relief valve 40 which maintains a predetermined maximumpressure in the reservoir 33 and beam 33a.

The spike pulling mechanism is mounted at the forward end of bed 10 andis best shown in the sectional views of FIGURES 8 and 9.

The spike pulling assemblies are mounted in pairs which straddle eachrail 76. The mounting fixtures at each side of bed iii are identical andcomprise a first bearing mount 42 fixed to the side of bed 10 and asecond bearing mount 43 fixed to the front surface. of beam 33a. Thesebearing mounts 42, 4-3 rotatably carry a tubular shaft 44 which isprovided with a plurality of holes 45. Each shaft 44 carries two spikepulling assemblies 46, 47 which are identical in construction. One ofthe spike pulling assemblies 46 will now be specifically described.

The spike pulling assembly 46 is journalled upon shaft 44 by means of atubular stub shaft 48 which extends through a channel backing member 49.Member 4) ex tends downwardly and is adjacent to the front of beam 33ain its operative position. Member 49 and the abutting surface of beam33a constitute means to restrain the spike pulling assembly 46 againstrearward motion of its lower portion relative to the bed it). Welded tothe central portion of member 49 is an enclosure 51} which extendsupwardly from the top of member 49 as a rectangular channel. Openings 51are provided at the lower portion of enclosure St) for maintenancepurposes. A pneumatic cylinder 52 is fixed to the front lower portion ofenclosure 5t; and is positioned parallel to both enclosure Si) andmember 49. A guard 53 is fixed to enclosure Sii at its upper portion andcomprises a square cross-sectioned protective cover for the enclosedmoving parts.

Slidably mounted within enclosure Si? is a hammer 5-1 which isrectangular in cross-section, has a slot 55 cut out of its lower end andhas a perpendicular lug 56 at its upper end which protrudes through aslot 67 cut in the front wall of enclosure 50. A bolt hole 57 extendsthrough hammer 54 at its lower portion through slot 55. The pneumaticcylinder 52 is air-tight and has an inlet at 58 connected to a flexibleair hose 59 which is connected to the control box 66 mounted on bed It Apiston 61 in cylinder 52 is mounted for upward movement and carries anupwardly extending rod 62 which extends through a sealed opening 63 incylinder 52 and protrudes into guard 53. The upper end of rod 62 hasformed thereon a yoke 64 having legs as which are spaced so as toreceive the lug 56 on hammer 54-. Lug 56 and yoke 64 are maintained inengagement while sliding along the confining walls of guard 53.

A spike pulling shoe 69 having a shank 68 is connected to hammer 54 bymeans of a bolt inserted in holes 57 and an elongated slot 7 6 in shank68. The slot 7 6 provides a lost motion connection to hammer 54. Shankaces,

63 is of the same thickness as hammer 54 and has a width slightly lessthan slot 56 to provide a smooth fit for interchanging shoes 69. Shank63 normally rests upon the central portion of member 4-9 and extendsbeyond the bottom of member 49. Shank 6S terminates in a spike engagingclaw 713 which shall now be specifically escribed.

Shown in FIGURES l-3 are two claws 71 one being right hand and the otherleft hand in orientation. Since the claws 75;- are mirror images,details of one should be suflicient to describe both. They are shown innormal riding position as one claw 71} engages a spike 71 having a head72 and a shank 73. The shank 73 extends through a hole 74 cut into thetie plate 82 and thereby engages the tie 75. A rail 76 is showncomprising a flange 77, a web 78 and a bead 75 Head 72 of spike 71 hasan extension 819 which engages flange 77 to hold it down. Due to theangular shape of flange 77, the outer flange 81 of head 72 is locatedconsiderably above the tie plate 82. head 72; is completed by a topflange 83 which has clearance between its lower surface and the tieplate 82 along both side edges and the inner edge of the spike 71.

Claw 751 is mounted perpendicularly to shank 6d at the end of shankopposite to slot 76. It is preferably made of hardened steel and isintegral with shank 68.

Claw "it; is of general rectangular shape and has a lower flat surface34 which extends halfway across its lower portion from its outside edgewith respect to rail 76. The lower portion then inclines upwardly as asurface 85 which has the contour of the sloping flange 77. Flange 77 isthereby engaged by the surface 85 to vertically position claw 7d. Thefront edge of claw 71 has an opening as therein which has a generalrectangular top configuration as shown in FIGURE 2. Opening 86 comprisesa series of vertical steps which extend along the three sided opening36. The first of these steps going from the top of claw 719, is of awidth considerably greater than the outer extremities of flanges 81 and83 and is designated as 87. Step 37 terminates in a ledge 88 of equalwidth on the outer and side portions, but having a narrow inner portionwith respect to rail 76. The

epth of step S7 is suflicient to place ledge 88 a short distance abovethe lower surfaces of flanges 81 and 83 of spike 71. Ledge S58 is seento approximately surround head 72 adjacent to flanges $1 and 83. Asecond step 89 is formed with angular side walls 911 which allow forsurface deformities or irregularities in bead 72 of spike 71 and has aledge 91 protruding inward into opening 86. This ledge 91 is positioneddirectly under flanges 81 and 83 and contacts the lower surfaces of theflanges to engage the spike 71. Ledge 91 has a wide outer portion 92,and an equally wide side portion 93, which terminates in an angularportion 94 that widens as a corner ledge and merges into a narrow innerportion 95. The outer portion 92. abuts shank 73 under the outer flange81 of head 72. The side portion 93 abuts shank 73 under top flange 83.The angular corner ledge 94 abuts extension 86 of head 72, and thenarrow inner ledge 85 abuts the inner edge of extension 80 under theinner edge of top flange 33. It is to be noted that the thickness ofclaw 761 under ledge 95 is at the minimum thickness directly underflange 83. This thickness increases about the circumference of opening86 and is at a maximum under portions 92 and 93. Since ledge 91 iswidest along the outer portion and side portions, these areas will exertthe strongest lifting pressure upon head 72. However, considerable forcewill be exerted by portion 95 of ledge 91 which further serves toposition the claw 7t and to insure vertical movement of spike 71 andthus prevent bending or tearing of head 72.

The controls will now be described. The control box 60 mounted on bed1t} is shown diagrammatically in FIGURE and comprises four control units60a, 611b, flc, 613d, corresponding to the four spike pullingassemblies. The details of one representative unit will be explained.

The control unit comprises a cylinder res having three openings 1111,162, 193 therein. Gpening 151 opens to an exhaust region maintained atatmospheric pressure. Gpening 1122 is connected by line 104 to reservoir33, 33a. Opening 183 is connected to the flexible air hose 59,previously described, which runs to the controlled spike pullingassembly.

A piston 165 is inserted within cylinder 10% and has an air-tightsliding relationship within the inner cylinder walls. The verticalthickness of piston 1115 slightly exceeds the diameter of openings11114113. A piston red 1116 rigidly attached to piston 105 extends to asolenoid 1196:: which is operative to move the piston between theposition shown in full lines in FIGURE 10 and the dashed line position.The first position is the normal rest position and is maintained by thebiasing force of spring 1117. The piston 1195 blocks opening 1192 andallows the line 5? to exhaust through opening 191. The second positionis the operating position and is obtained by activating solenoid 1%. Inthis position, exhaust opening 1111 is blocked, and line 59 is connectedto reservoir 53.

A control switch 111% is shown in FIGURE 9 mounted upon the front of bed11) adjacent the supporting member 49. A telescoping spring enclosurecomprising inner member 109 and outer member 111} houses a compressionspring 111 and a rod 112 fixed to members 49 for movement with it.Switch 1118 is a pressure responsive switch having a control element 113which is spring biased to a normally open position. The rod 112 ispositioned so as to contact element 113 when member 49 moves backwardsdue to the contacting of a spike shank. This results in the closing ofswitch 108. One terminal of switch 1118 is connected to ground at 114.The remaining terminal is connected to one terminal of solenoid 106 bywire 115. The second terminal of solenoid 106 is connected to a battery116, which is grounded at 116a.

To allow manual operation a control switch 117 is mounted on controlpanel 34 and is controlled by the first button 36 previously described.Switch 117 is also pressure responsive and is closed by pressure onbutton 36. One terminal of switch 117 is connected to ground at 118 andthe other terminal is connected by wire 119 to the wire leading tosolenoid 1116. Thus the switches 1118 and 117 are wired in parallel andeither switch will energize solenoid 1116 when activated.

Each spike pulling assembly is wired and controlled independently,having the same manual or automatic control as just described. A fourpole switch '120 is inserted between switches 1G8 and the groundconnection at 114. Switch 121 is normally closed, but may be manuallyopened to prohibit automatic operation and allow only manual controlwhen desired.

Since the flanges of wheels 11 and 12 are not positively positioned uponthe rails 76, the bed 10 must be centered accurately to insureengagement of each spike 71 as bed 19 travels along the'right of way.This is accomplished by a guide unit 121 mounted at the outer edge ofeach rail 76 at the forward end of bed 10. One unit will be described(see FIGURES 7 and 11).

The guide unit 1211 is suspended by two cars 121 fixed to the lowersurface of beam 33a. A solid shaft 122 is rotatably mounted by cars 121and is locked against lateral movement by washers 123. A collar 124 isjournalled on shaft 122 and has a depending plate 125 attached to itwhich is positioned parallel to the rail 76. A gusset .126 is fixed tocollar 124 and plate 125 to rigidly support the plate 125. The collar124 is laterally positioned on shaft 122; by means of pins 127 whichextend through both the collar 124 and shaft 122;. The edge of plate 125facing the bead 79 of rail '7 6 is provided with two horizontal ears128, 129 mounted vertically one above the other. These ears carry ashaft 131) which rotatably journals a roller 131. Roller 131 rolls alongthe outer edge of bead 79 aoeaars to thereby position the bed to preventsideward drifting during travel.

A chain 132 is attached between plate 125 and support member 49 of theouter spike pulling assembly 46. This chain lifts the guide unit 120 forfast travel along the tracks between operations. Chain 132 pulls unit120 upward when assembly 46 is pivoted so as to lie on bed 10.

In traveling from one operating area to another, the spike pullingassemblies 46 are pulled back over shafts 44 and guide units 120 arethereby retracted. Transmission 21 is set in a high forward speed topropel bed 110 along rails 76.

When operation is resumed, the assemblies 46 are lowered into contactwith rails 76 and the rollers 131 are engaged with outer beads 79 toposition the entire mechanism. Transmission 21 is then set at a veryslow forward speed. The bed 10 is thus moved between ties along rails 76until a spike 71 is contacted by one of the claws 70. This will triggerthe automatic switch 108 and one of the pistons 105. Air will be forcedinto the cylinder 52, moving piston 61 upward. Yoke 64 will then carrylug 56 upward at a high rate of speed to move hammer 54. When the lostmotion in slot 76 is taken up, the momentum of hammer 54 will suddenlyyank shoe 69 and claw 70 to extract the spike 71. This motion will bealmost instantaneous, although any stoppage of bed 10 can beaccommodated by slippage in belt 25, If manual control is desired switch120 is opened and the buttons 36459 must be manually manipulated. Thisaction is desirable should switch plates or other irregularconfigurations of spikes be encountered.

Holes 133 in shaft 44 laterally position the stub shafts 48 toaccommodate various spacings of spikes which might be encountered. Pins134 inserted through the holes 133 positively space the spike pullingassemblies 46.

Various modifications will present themselves within the scope of thisinvention, which is not intended to be limited by this disclosure exceptas defined in the following claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a mobile rail spike puller for intermittently pulling spikes alonga railroad right of way, the combination with a bed supported by aplurality of rail engaging wheels, guide means depending from said bedto the rails adapted to center said bed with respect to the rails andair supply means fixed to said bed; of a lateral bar supported forwardof said bed parallel to the forward end of said bed, a support structurepivotally journalled upon said bar and adapted to abut the forward endof said bed in its operative vertical position, air cylinder meansmounted on said support structure operatively connected to said airsupply means, piston means slidably mounted within said air cylindermeans, spike engaging shoe means slida-bly carried by said supportstructure adapted to slide along the rail flange, and means operativelyconnecting said spike engaging shoe means and said piston means wherebythe application of pressure from said air supply means to said aircylinder means causes said piston means to lift said spike engaging shoemeans from sliding contact with the rail flange.

2. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein control means is includedbetween said air cylinder means and said air supply means and comprisessolenoid-controlled valve means adapted to alternately connect said aircylinder means to said air supply means or to an exhaust means, aspring-biased control switch mount between said support structure andthe front of said bed wired to said solenoid, a manual control switchwired in parallel with said spring-biased control switch and a secondmanual switch wired in series with said spring-biased switch to rendersaid spring-biased switch inoperative.

3. In a mobile rail spike puller for intermittently pulling spikes alonga railroad right of way; the combination with a wheeled supporting bedadapted to travel along a rail, and means to laterally position said bedwith respect to the rail; of a support structure mounted on the bed,means to restrain the lower end of said structure against rearwardmotion relative to the bed, spike engaging shoe means slidably mountedby said support structure for limited free movement up and down relativeto the support structure whereby it is adapted to slide along the railflange, said shoe means having an open claw at its lower end adapted tobe engaged under a spike head overlapping the rail flange during travelof the bed along the rail, and impact power means carried by saidsupport structure operably connected to the shoe means adapted to liftthe shoe means after engagement of the shoe means under a spike head.

4. A spike puller as defined in claim 3 wherein said claw comprises anintegral horizontal extension of said shoe means, a portion of the lowersurface of said claw being contoured complementary to the top surface ofthe rail flange along which said shoe slides, said claw furtherincluding an aperture opening toward the front edge thereof in theintended direction of motion of said bed on the rail, said aperturecomprising a ledge adapted to fit beneath the flange of a spike engagedby said claw.

5. A spike puller as defined in claim 3 wherein said impact power meanscomprises a pneumatic cylinder mounted on said support structure, apiston slidably mounted within said cylinder, :1 lost motion connectionoperatively connected between said shoe means and said piston adapted tojar said shoe means upwardly after initial upward movement of saidpiston within said cylinder, said lost motion connection furtherproviding the limited free movement of said shoe means relative to therail flange, a source of pressurized air mounted on said bed, andcontrol means oper-atively connecting said source of pressurized air andthe interior of said cylinder at its lower end adapted to selectivelysupply a charge of pressurized air to the lower end of said cylinder tothereby raise said piston.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS429,508 Crane June 3, 1890 951,517 Varner Mar. 8, 1910 1,284,938 SimonesNov. 12, 1918 1,321,909 Hastings Nov. 18, 1919 1,394,651 Tompkins Oct.25, 1921 1,676,149 Maney July 3, 1928 1,908,299 Armstrong May 9, 19332,485,877 Hamilton Oct. 25, 1949 2,596,823 Richardson May 13, 19522,722,080 Lemberger Nov. 1, 1955 2,876,916 Austrow et al. Mar. 10, 19592,911,190 Creason Nov. 3, 1959 2,928,654 Dann et al. Mar. 15, 1960FOREIGN PATENTS 7,921 Great Britain June 9, 1894

